Portman: B for beg

The actress was so desperate to be in the movie she flew across the US to audition to play freedom fighter Evey.

She revealed: "I literally begged for this part. I flew out to San Francisco and read for the role. And thank God I got it.

"I just think it's so rare to find a movie that's really entertaining and really fun on a big scale and on an impressive visual scale, that's also really so interesting and is going to give you something to think about afterwards."

She added: "Big, big Hollywood movies have been disappointing until this."

Meanwhile, Portman revealed she uses her psychology degree to help her understand her characters.

The beauty - who studied at America's prestigious Harvard University - told Britain's Independent newspaper: "I use my psychology background all the time. I could use it to mess with people but that would be a mean thing to do!

"Actually, I don't think I know enough to really mess with people but there's always studies that I've read or something I've read in college that I'll remember when I'm reading a script about a certain disorder, like 'this person might be a little bipolar or associative', those kinds of things."